The present disclosure generally relates to obtaining real time pricing, and more particularly to obtaining real-time pricing using smart-price-tags.
The prices of items for sale in retail stores are typically fixed (i.e. static). In some cases, such as during a sale, a display sign or tag may state a current discount for a product, which may be applied to the product upon checkout. However, the discounted price may not updated or is incorrect at the cash register, which can result in a disgruntled customer(s) while time is spent price checking or if the customer overpays, due to not immediately noticing the error.
There are known ways of delivering en-mass and personalized coupons offering discounts to customers. However, these methods are generally push-based; that is, if the store does not push the offer, the customer will not receive the coupon or pricing. Further, if a customer specifically wants to know about a product, they have no way of obtaining a coupon without using additional devices (such as a mobile phone/browser, etc.)
In addition, associating a product with the customer's “wants” and then searching often turns out to be a difficult task, which often results in no available coupon/discount for the product associated at all. Sporadic pull-based pricing may be available in some retail stores where separate price check counters or stations are installed, but the users need to walk to the counter or station to scan the product and get the price.